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23 July 2012

It's Our Prom

It's Our Prom (So Deal With It) is the latest queer YA novel by Julie Anne Peters. It is about the relationships between three people who have been best friends for years - Azure, Luke, and Radhika. Told from alternating points of view betwenn Azure and Luke, It's Our Prom is the story of two people who are both in love with their best friend (Radhika) and have dreams of taking her to the new, alternative, prom.

When the school principal asks Azure to be on the prom committee, based
on a letter written the previous year about how proms are not inclusive,
Azure begs Luke and Radhika to join her in the planning. There are differences of opinion about what the prom should be - from the traditional model that tends to exclude both by economic factors and a heteronormative expectations - to a prom that is almost free to attend and has a drag show and no king and queen.

As the committee works out the details, and the budget, readers learn about the lives of Azure and Luke. Radhika is more of a mystery as there is obviously something going on with her, but she is not telling either of them.

Peters is known for her young adult novels that help young queer readers see themselves in the stories. This book is of the caliber you would expect from her. However, I found it odd that there were two times when the characters mention company that is anti-gay. Once when pizza was ordered from Domino's - whose owner is vehimitly against the GLBT community- and once the characters were watching Fox News. Why, out of all of the possible companies, would you promote two anti-gay comanies unless it was to point out their policies? It seems strange.